


Fast Enough

by I_can_only_imagine



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Hood/Arsenal (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Based on that scene from the Red Hood/Arsenal comic where Duela tried to kill herself, Duela Dent needs a Hug, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Jason Todd Loves his Kids, M/M, NO CAPES, Suicide Attempt, Teenage Suicide Attempt, no beta we die like jason todd, she gets one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:14:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26021011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_can_only_imagine/pseuds/I_can_only_imagine
Summary: “Jason, please come quick. I don’t know how long I can keep her on the ledge.”Jason knew before he even got to the Gotham Prep clock tower which of his girls would be up there. He could only hope he could make it in time.
Relationships: Duela Dent & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & his kids, Roy Harper/Jason Todd
Comments: 1
Kudos: 55





	Fast Enough

**Author's Note:**

> Jason and Roy are married in this universe though it is not mentioned in this one shot.  
> Their kids (who are featured in this one shot or mentioned) in order of age are:  
> Miriam (Mother II)  
> Brice (Bizzaro)  
> Duela  
> Sasha (Scarlet)  
> Clara (Cloud 9)  
> Devin (Devour)  
> Nay (DNA)

_“Jason, please come quick. I don’t know how long I can keep her on the ledge.”_

Those words repeated in Jason’s head over and over again as he raced through the city at speeds that he would usually worry about getting a ticket for. He was racing through the city at speeds he had never gone before, but it still wasn’t fast enough.

Jim had called. No, not Jim, he wasn’t his step grandfather on that call. Commissioner Gordon had called. It was only five minutes before that he had called and told Jason that he, Dick and a few other officers were at Gotham Prep, at the bell tower.

He wasn’t going fast enough. He wasn’t going to be fast enough. But if he went any faster, he would end up in an accident, and that was the last thing they needed right now.

The moment got to the school his bike screeched to a halt and he jumped off it. He was running, but he wasn’t running fast enough. All the worst possibilities flew through his mind and he wasn’t fast enough.

Gordon hadn’t outright said which of his girls it was, but deep down Jason knew. He would always know, because he knew his girls and he knew which one of them it was.

He ran and the bell tower came into view, a shock of red hair visible at the top fluttering in the wind.

Red hair meant nothing for confirmation. Two of his girls and one of his boys had red hair. But this was one of his girls, and he knew which one it was. He knew, and he wanted to scream and cry and get to her faster.

“Jason!” Dick was running to meet him from the bell tower. Clara and Devin were across the courtyard, and Miriam was being comforted by an EMT. That was three. That was three of his seven that attended Gotham Prep. But he was still missing the red headed daughter who wasn’t on the bell tower, and Brice, and Nay.

“What’s going on?” Jason’s voice was shrill to his own ears when Dick caught him back both shoulders, but he didn’t have control over what he was saying. Everything was working on auto pilot and he just needed to get to her.

“One of the students saw her going up to the bell tower,” Dick explained as quickly as he could. “They told Miriam and she opened her phone to call her. She had sent Miriam and the others emails before climbing to the top-”

“Is someone with her?” Jason asked. “Is someone making sure she doesn't- doesn't-”

“Yes, Commissioner Gordon has been trying to talk her down since he called you,” Dick said. Jason looked back up at the bell tower and sure enough, almost out of view, he could see the man’s white hair. There was a second red head next to him, and Jason realized with so much horror that he nearly lost his balance that both his red headed girls were up there. One was trying to talk the other down, but neither of them should be up there in the first place.

Just then two bodies crashed into him, pushing Dick away. Shocks of blue and red hair filled his vision, and he latched onto them right away. Clara and Devin must have heard him when he started yelling.

“Papa it’s-”

“I know,” Jason cut Clara’s hysterics off, his own voice more calm and gentle than it had been when he spoke to Dick.

“Where’s Brice and Nay?” he asked, looking over his teens’ heads to his older brother.

“Brice is with Leslie. All of the noises sent him into a sensory overload,” Dick explained. “Nay is getting Miriam some water under the EMT’s orders.”

“Okay,” Jason tried to catch his breath. Only two of them were up there. That was two more than should be up there, but he could work with this. “Okay, I’m going up. Take care of the kids.”

“I will,” Dick promised.

Jason started running again, towards where he knew the entrance to the bell tower was. His lungs were constricting with the statin of running so much in such a short amount of time. His doctor wasn’t going to like this, but he didn’t care. He needed to go faster.

He took the stairs two, sometimes three at a time. It took no time at all and all the time in the world to reach the roof, and when he did, he felt so much relife that he almost fell. Because he had gotten there fast enough. She hadn’t jumped while he was on his way.

“Jason!”

“Papa!”

Commissioner Gordon and Sasha’s shouts of relief came at the same time, overlapping each other.

Jason shooed them back from where they had been standing a yard away from the edge and took their place.

“Duela,” he said as gently as he could. His voice was shaking, he knew she could hear it too, but it didn’t matter. For the first time since he got the call, he wondered where Roy was.

“Duela, please step away from there,” Jason said.

“I can’t do it anymore,” he almost couldn’t hear her voice over the wind this high up. She was shaking, and the wind was picking up, and even if she didn’t jump this was too risky.

“Please baby, just step away from the ledge,” Jason begged, holding out his hand to her. “Baby please, take my hand. Please.”

“I can’t do this,” Duela shook her head. She wasn't looking at him, and he wasn’t sure if she even realized who hew as in that moment.

“Ella please,” Jason inched towards her. It was small enough that she didn’t notice, but big enough that if she stepped off he would be able to grab her and pull her back up. He wouldn’t let her fall. He had promised her that much.

“I’m a bad person,” Duela’s voice was quiet and choked, and Jason never wanted to hear her like that again.

“No baby,” Jason said. “You’re not a bad person. I love you so so much baby, please.”

Something he had said had snapped her out of it. He wasn’t sure if it was his refute of her words, of him saying he loved her, but whatever it was, he was thankful. He was thankful because she turned to him with focused eyes and finally registered just who it was talking to her.

“Papa?” she asked. “You’re supposed to be at your appointment.”

“No, I’m supposed to be here,” Jason said, holding his hand out to her a little more urgently. “Baby, please take my hand.”

“I can’t,” she said. “I can’t do it anymore Papa.”

“What can’t you do?” Jason asked. “Baby, please, just talk to me. Talk to me and I can help, I promise I can.”

“No-”

Before Duela could say anything else, Jason grabbed her hand and yanked her back from the edge, stumbling back a few yards so she couldn’t pull away and jump. Gordon and Sasha rushed around to make sure even if she tried, someone would grab her again.

“Let me go!” Duela screamed and Jason locked his arms around her, typing her against his chest.

“No, I’m never going to let you go,” Jason said. “Never. I’m staying right here. I’m staying right here until things get better. And they will get better baby, you just need to tell us what’s going on.”

“I’m sorry,” Duela was breaking down. Jason did have the strength to hold both of them up, so he sank with her to his knees and cradled her in his arms.

“Don’t apologize,” Jason whispered. He held her close and he never wanted to let go. Shit, he almost wasn’t fast enough.

He didn’t know how much time had passed when strong arms he recognized so well wrapped around them both. He took a deep breath, allowing the still strong scent of oil and work to wash over him.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner,” Roy whispered above them. “I was under a car.”

“It’s okay,” Jason said.

They stayed like that for a long time. The sirens were still going in the distance, and Jason could hear Jim comforting Sasha. He wondered distantly as the adrenaline wore down and left him feeling heavy and tired where the rest of his kids were.

He would have to hold Biz for a while after they got home to comfort him through the anxiety he always got after an overload in public. He would need to sit and have a long talk with Miriam, he knew how much she could shut down like a zombie when these kinds of things happened. Dev, Clara and Nay would need comfort food, which meant he would have to make something big because the moment the others saw them they would want some too. And Sasha probably wouldn’t be leaving his side for a while.

He had so much to do, and that wasn’t even scratching the surface of all the phone calls he would need to make for Duela. All the time he would gladly give up just to make sure she was going to be okay.

He was fast enough to get there, so he had all the time in the world to handle everything else.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos are always apreciated!  
> You can find me on Tumblr at @what-if-i-imagine, my prompts are always open and so is my inbox if you just want to stop in and say hi!


End file.
